Davidson forced to withdraw from WEC opener

Anthony Davidson will not take part in this weekend's season-opening FIA World Endurance Championship race at Silverstone due to pain from a lingering rib injury.

The ex-Formula 1 driver and Toyota LMP1 racer revealed to Motorsport.com that he sustained the injury in a go-karting crash some weeks ago.

It means his JOTA Sport teammates Antonio Felix da Costa and Roberto Gonzalez are set to compete as a duo in the Goodyear-liveried #38 Oreca on Sunday.

"It’s a bitter blow," Davidson said. "I’m driving around in a lot of agony out here, and the high g-forces of this circuit, combined with a new seat that I’m running here, it’s putting forces on my rib on the left-hand side that I can’t deal with.

"I’ve tried everything to try and get through it, but I think I’m going to have to admit defeat. I’m in too much pain, really.

"I’ve done everything I can. I was strapped up [in practice] this morning, with painkillers, and we modified the seat to try and relieve the area of impact, but it’s too much."